Jury hears from former friend of accused murderer Jack Hale

(LINDSAY) The murder trial of Jack Hale continued in Lindsay court Monday (Oct. 29), with testimony from a friend of Mr. Hale and one of the officers involved in capturing the accused.
Mr. Hale is standing trial for the murder of his estranged wife Yvonne Leroux at the Riverwood Trailer Park near Lindsay Sept. 18, 2008 and, as his former friend entered the courtroom, he kept his eyes trained on him, watching closely as he made his way to the witness stand.
Tom Bannister, who had met and became friends with Mr. Hale when they both worked at General Motors 11 or 12 years ago, testified that at one point he considered Mr. hale a good friend and the two often socialized with their partners, Ms Leroux and Brenda Green. Mr. Bannister testified that while he may have noticed some trouble between Mr. Hale and Ms Leroux near the end of their marriage, once they separated, he never saw the pair together and he and Ms Green made efforts not to get involved in the couple’s troubles and maintained friendships with each individually.
During the chief examination by Crown attorney Rebecca Griffin, Mr. Bannister said he was aware that Mr. Hale had knives, often carrying a folded pocket knife in a pouch on his belt, but otherwise had no knowledge of any weapons at Mr. Hale’s home that he shared with his mother.
Before the time of the shooting, Mr. Bannister said he hadn’t seen Mr. Hale for several months, and had certainly not expected to see him at the trailer when he went with Ms Green, Ms Leroux and her new boyfriend, Dirk Arsenault, for a few days in September. He said if he had anticipated Mr. Hale coming, he would not have gone.
Mr. Bannister told the 12-person jury that he had taken one of his dogs for a walk the morning of Sept. 18 and when he was down by the water in the park, “I heard what sounded like a gun shot.”
While the sound startled him that morning, Mr. Bannister said he wasn’t too concerned, having grown up in the area, he said hearing gun shots at that time of year was not unusual.
That’s when he heard his name being called and Mr. Arsenault came running toward him yelling, “Jack shot Yvonne,” with Ms Green close behind.
Mr. Bannister testified that both Mr. Arsenault and Ms Green were “frantic,” and that the three immediately went back to the trailer to get a cell phone to call 911. Mr. Bannister testified that he entered the trailer to get some items for Ms Green, but did not touch or come close to Ms Leroux’s body and never saw a gun anywhere in the trailer. He also said that the three did not discuss what had happened.
“I think we were all just panicked.”
Under cross examination by defence lawyer Tom Balka, Mr. Bannister said that both Mr. Hale and Ms Leroux sometimes drank alcohol, Ms Leroux more so than her previous partner. Mr. Balka also questioned testimony Mr. Bannister had given earlier that Mr. Hale had been trying to avoid Ms Leroux before the shooting because she wanted to serve him legal papers, getting him to admit that was speculation on his part.
Mr. Balka also questioned Mr. Bannister about whether or not he saw a blue duffel bag after the shooting, to which Mr. Bannister testified he had not.
The seventh and eighth witnesses to testify in the trial were Robert Gardiner, an OPP officer based out of the Central Hastings Detachment, and Kevin Postma, an OPP officer with the Quinte West detachment who were involved in capturing Mr. Hale on Highway 7, the afternoon of the murder. The officers testified that Mr. Hale was found in possession of three knives and a black, pistol grip shot gun was found in a duffel bag on the passenger seat of the vehicle he was driving.
The final witness of the day was James Hayes, a retired Kawartha Lakes Police officer, who was called in to help secure the scene two days after the murder, and was present when an additional spenmt shell casing was found at the scene.